Brent Pease, an associate professor in the forestry program, will lead SIU’s new Roadside Ecology Center. The center is the result of a $40 million intergovernmental agreement with the Illinois Department of Transportation that aims to mitigate and minimize the impact of transportation projects on wildlife in Southern Illinois (Photo by Rusell Bailey).
August 13, 2026
SIU Carbondale, IDOT partner on $40M grant to establish Roadside Ecology Center
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Southern Illinois University Carbondale and the Illinois Department of Transportation are partnering on a 10-year, $40 million intergovernmental agreement that aims to mitigate and minimize the impact of transportation projects on wildlife and ecosystems in Southern Illinois. The pact is the university’s largest research partnership ever.
The funds will establish a Roadside Ecology Center. The center’s work will focus on preconstruction surveys including environmental assessments, field data collection and analysis, along with mapping and compliance reporting.
The agreement went into effect July 1. IDOT also recently entered into a $5 million, 10-year intergovernmental agreement with SIU’s Center for Archaeological Investigations to assist with initial archaeological survey work for possible road and bridge projects in the region.
Surveys will focus on wildlife protection
Brent Pease, an associate professor in the forestry program, will lead the new center. He said the surveys will focus on identifying threatened or endangered mammals, birds, amphibians, fish, insects and plants before construction begins. This includes the timber rattlesnake, ornate box turtle, northern long-eared bat, short-eared owl, and buffalo clover.
“The Illinois Department of Transportation is taking a university-led approach to conducting these ecology surveys and SIU is being entrusted with the lower portion of the state,” said Pease whose research interests are focused on ecology and wildlife conservation. “SIU has the expertise to lead cutting-edge research on road ecology, not only protecting the ecosystems that are vital to Southern Illinois but developing best practices that can be used across the world.”
Construction projects must adhere to strict guidelines to ensure uniform practices across the state, including policies that protect the environment. Agency officials stated the importance of having SIU researchers at preconstruction sites to gather data about wildlife and share their findings.
“Securing this 10-year contract with SIU Carbondale provides the Illinois Department of Transportation with talented university specialists in Southern Illinois,” said Lora Rensing, IDOT’s chief engineer and director of Highways Project Implementation. “These individuals will evaluate how highway development affects the environment in Central and Southern Illinois, which is a critical step in fulfilling IDOT’s mission to be good stewards of our environment.”
Pease is in the process of staffing the center before any surveys can take place. He plans to hire 16 full-time employees, with several of those openings filled by doctoral-level researchers as well as graduate students. In addition to postgraduate and graduate opportunities, Pease hopes to offer similar experiences to undergraduate students during the summer.
Helps showcase the university’s R1 status
In February 2025, the American Council on Education and Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching designated SIU as a Research 1 university. To be given the R1 designation, on average in a single year, an institution must spend at least $50 million on research and development and produce at least 70 research doctorates. This prestigious designation ranks SIU among the top research universities in the nation.
“It’s exciting because the center will support SIU’s mission of being an R1 institution,” Pease said. “We’re going to be building research capacity at the university and at the Illinois Department of Transportation.”
Costas Tsatsoulis, SIU’s vice chancellor for research and graduate school dean, said partnerships like this allow SIU to illustrate its research capabilities and provide a service that benefits communities across southern Illinois.
“SIU has worked incredibly hard for the R1 designation and staff continually engage in first-class research projects,” said Tsatsoulis. “This multi-year, multi-million-dollar intergovernmental agreement with IDOT expands our university’s reach to share our research and resources with our region and state. It is continuing recognition of the innovative and impactful work by our faculty in ecology and wildlife conservation.”
Future of the center
Pease believes the research conducted through the Roadside Ecology Center will have significant contributions for Illinois and its surrounding states.
“Other institutions have centers like this, but they have different ecosystems and different human populations,” Pease said. “This type of center does not exist in Southern Illinois, and this research will benefit the Midwest overall.”
Pease added that the partnership could also help IDOT fill open positions and create jobs for SIU graduates. The university will offer road ecology classes for students to learn these survey skills, as IDOT needs employees who study natural resources, he said.